


the most beautiful moment in life

by thesiege



Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV)
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Fluff, Friendship, Gen, M/M, Romance, Slow Burn, Youtuber AU, because i can't write high school drama anymore lol, came up with random last names for alex and reggie because i had to, social media as storytelling lol, these are the important questions, when will s2 be confirmed!?, when will we know!?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-29
Updated: 2020-11-05
Packaged: 2021-03-09 02:02:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,261
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27266902
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thesiege/pseuds/thesiege
Summary: A band torn apart from the inside meets a girl relearning how to fly.(julie and the phantoms, youtuber edition. tell your friends.)title from the hyyh series by bts ;)
Relationships: Alex & Julie Molina & Luke Patterson & Reggie, Alex/Willie (Julie and The Phantoms), Flynn & Julie Molina, Julie Molina/Luke Patterson
Comments: 28
Kudos: 135





	1. p r e l u d e // electric hammer to the heart

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> bobby does what he does and betrays sunset curve.
> 
> chapter title from "now or never" by sunset curve, obviously

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> please excuse my complete and utter lack of legal knowledge

**IS THIS THE END OF SUNSET CURVE?**

_JULY 29, 2020_

If you care about music, then you have to know Sunset Curve. They started out as four boys posting song covers on YouTube and have grown into the teen rock sensation signed to Phantom Records with four #1 singles on the Billboard Hot 100 and a US tour planned for next spring.

Fans and music critics alike were shocked when rhythm guitarist Bobby Wilson suddenly debuted last week as a solo act with the chart-topping EP _My Name IS Bobby_ under Hollywood Ghost Records, home to stars like Caleb Covington and Dirty Candy. However, perhaps the most surprising and most surprised reactions came from the other three members of Sunset Curve themselves, implying that this split was not a mutual band decision. Their label, Phantom Records, has yet to release an official statement.

**SUNSET CURVE VS BOBBY WILSON: WHO WILL COME OUT ON TOP?**

_AUGUST 5, 2020_

Recently, Sunset Curve's rhythm guitarist Bobby Wilson left the band and became a solo artist. His EP, _My Name Is Bobby_ , was a huge success, with all four songs charting high on the Billboard Hot 100, including "My Name Is Bobby," "Get Lost," "Long Weekend," and "Crooked Teeth."

Phantom Records finally released an official statement, claiming that Bobby's songs are stolen and the band has entered a legal battle with their former member. The statement reads:

> This is Phantom Records speaking on behalf of Sunset Curve. Former member Bobby Wilson recorded and claimed credit for unreleased original music written by band members Luke Patterson, Alex Thompson, and Reggie King. Sunset Curve has opened a lawsuit against Bobby Wilson for intellectual property theft and copyright violations. The band will be on hiatus during this time and they ask for your support and understanding. Thank you.

In response, Hollywood Ghost Records released the following statement:

> On behalf of our new artist Bobby Wilson, we reject the claim that he stole Sunset Curve's music. He was an integral part of the band and contributed to the creation of his songs. Our legal team will work hard to prove his innocence. In the meantime, Bobby is preparing to release a single and hold an exclusive concert, details to be announced. He thanks you for all your love and support!


	2. p r e l u d e // better wake those demons, just look them in the eye

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> julie finds her way back to music.
> 
> title from "wake up" by julie and her mom :')

Julie 🦋  
@thejuliemolina

to all the fans of Julie+Rose, thank you so much for your love and patience. This video is for you. 👉 youtu.be/RTYJhbv

❤ 2.9K 12:06 PM • September 10, 2020

475 people are talking about this

The video opens to Julie sitting at her mother's grand piano in their garage studio. There's a small stack of papers sitting on top of the instrument. She offers an awkward wave to the camera and clears her throat.

"Hi, hello, um. I'm Julie." She pauses and coughs, muttering to herself, "Okay, wow, this is weird. Just me...talking to a camera. Anyway." She visibly shakes herself and refocuses. "Thank you so much to everyone who has been supporting this channel for the past few years and...sorry for being MIA for over a year. Um, my mom got sick and she..."

Julie pauses and averts her gaze, swallowing her tears, before continuing, "She—ahem, sorry—she passed away. And for the longest time I—my mom taught me everything I know about music. So I couldn't even  _ think _ about music without breaking down, let alone perform."

Julie sniffles and roughly swipes away a stray tear. She exhales and smiles with a wobble.

"But I kept getting comments on videos from you guys telling us how much you love our voices and our original songs, how we inspired some of you to start learning piano or singing and I realized that..." She shrugs. "I shouldn't be pushing music away. I should be playing and singing and performing  _ because _ it reminds me of my mom and because I really do love it." With bright eyes, she grins at the camera." I just really wanted to thank you all for showing me that, and for inspiring me to keep going. So yeah. Thank you so, so much."

Julie gathers the papers and holds them up, revealing them to be handwritten sheet music.

"Um, I wanted to perform this song for you guys. It's the last song my mom wrote for me before...um, and I haven't had the courage to sing it. But it deserves to be shared. So, here it is." She lays out the music across the piano and settles her fingers on the keys. "For all of you who are struggling, who feel like you've hit rock bottom. For me. Wake up."

With one last smile at the camera, she inhales and begins to sing.


	3. O N E // i've been holding on for so long, now say goodbye and try to move on

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the boys battle it out and return to their roots.
> 
> title from "when i'm gone" by before you exit

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ICYMI i retconned bobby's ep lol it used to be now or never with the song now or never but i changed it to my name is bobby because i just really wanted now or never to belong to sunset curve.
> 
> also sorry this took me forever!!! 1) it was so hard to get inside reggie's head and 2) i've spent the last few years writing oneshot collections and no longer remember how to write a story with even a modicum of plot. i was planning to drag out this bobby drama a little longer, but then i realized i don't actually care about this drama that much and really just want the boys to meet julie and take over youtube. :D
> 
> lol i'm having so much fun with these fake tweets. not sure if they're realistic or reflective of people's general attitudes on twitter at all, but i'm having fun.

Reggie slumps into the worn sofa in their practice room and scrolls through his Twitter feed, humming as he skims the heated arguments about the Bobby situation. Bad publicity is better than no publicity, isn't that what people say?

Still, Reggie would prefer all this publicity to end soon. He's tired of thinking about Bobby—that  _ traitor _ —and just wants to move onto bigger and better things without him. Sometimes in the studio or their favorite street dog stand or even just walking down Sunset Boulevard like he's done a billion times, he's hit by a memory of the four of them laughing together, jamming out, making each other's lives a little happier.

Those moments are hard. They make him briefly forget why he has to hate Bobby now. When he remembers, he hates Bobby even more for tainting all the good times.

But hating people is exhausting. Reggie's not built for it. He might not forgive, but he'll do his best to forget.

Beside him, Alex glances up from his own phone and raises an inquisitive eyebrow. Reggie shrugs and tilts his screen towards Alex, who leans over and winces when he reads the tweets.

"Thank god Luke isn't on social media," Alex mutters. "He'd flip if he saw any of these."

They both glance at Luke, who is cradling his acoustic guitar and hasn't looked up from his notebook since they arrived two hours ago.

"I mean, they're not  _ all _ bad," Reggie feels the need to point out. "Our real fans believe in us."

"Oh yeah, this one's my favorite!" Reggie exclaims, shoving his phone in Alex's face with a pleased grin.

Alex squints skeptically at Reggie. "Yeah, that's...relevant. They didn't even get our name right."

"Hey, a compliment's a compliment, I'll take it." Reggie shrugs. He's a big believer in silver linings and not dwelling on negativity. It makes hard times easier to get through.

Suddenly, Luke growls and flings his pen across the room, which jolts Reggie into fumbling his phone and accidentally liking a random tweet.

"Oh crap, unlike! Unlike!" he chants urgently. "Oops, that was a pro-Bobby tweet. Hope no one saw that, heh."

"Reggie!" Alex hisses, elbowing Reggie in the side. "I thought we agreed not to mention He Who Shall Not Be Named?"

"Ow!" Reggie complains, rubbing his ribs. "What does Voldemort have to do with this?"

He feels completely wronged by Alex's eyeroll and pouts when Alex doesn't even respond, just turns to Luke and asks, "Dude, you okay?"

Luke groans and angrily ruffles his hair. "I just—I can't figure out this stupid song! Something's  _ missing _ , but I don't know what." His phone buzzes in his pocket and he practically claws it out. "What now!"

Reggie darts over and grabs the phone out of Luke's hand before he can throw that across the room too. Phones ain't cheap; Reggie would know, because he's on his third phone this year. It's not his fault his possessions like to disappear on him. "Alright buddy, let ol' Reg handle this. Hyello? Uh-huh. Uh-huh. Okay, see you soon!" He nods and hangs up, then looks at Alex and Luke. "So apparently we're supposed to be in a meeting with the CEO right now?"

Ten minutes later, the three boys are sitting with their manager Willie, staring across the table at the company's legal team and the CEO of Phantom Records. Reggie is feeling decidedly intimidated. Not by Willie, Willie's great; he and Alex clearly have something going on but both have been in denial since they met. Anyway, Willie's a good guy.

However, the legal team, consisting of two men and a woman dressed in suits, look like Serious Business and the CEO, whom Reggie has seen in person exactly four times and met only once, sits tall and regal and sharply dressed in a deep red power suit. She's fair and he's even seen her smile once, but when her eyes touch him he wishes he were invisible.

Reggie looks at Alex, who looks at Luke, who rolls his eyes and breaks the ice. "So what is this about?"

The female lawyer looks to Ms. Parker, who nods her assent. "Hollywood Ghost Records has offered us a deal," the lawyer begins. "It is a very lucrative deal."

"We're not taking it," Luke interrupts, stubbornness growing on his face. Reggie nods along.

Alex groans quietly and covers his eyes. "Dude, let them finish talking." Reggie nods again.

"We don't even need to hear it because it's not happening," Luke retorts. "No deals. We're winning this case."

Okay, Reggie is totally lost. He decides to speak up. "Sorry, I'm lost. What are we talking about?"

"Hollywood Ghost Records offered us an extremely generous amount of money to drop our lawsuit against Bobby Wilson." The lawyer clears her throat pointedly and glares at Luke, who just shrugs. "However, if you had simply let me finish speaking, you would know that yes, we have decided not to take the deal, though we did seriously consider it."

"What?" Luke sputters in outrage, leaning aggressively across the table. The lawyers flinch in unison. " _ Why? _ "

The CEO calmly explains, "It was a lot of money. And Phantom Records is still a business."

Reggie feels the lightbulb in his brain turn on. He claps his hands and declares, "Aha! So they tried to bribe us?"

"Essentially, yes." One of the male lawyers takes over, eying Luke cautiously. "Naturally, the deal would be kept quiet, but we realized it wasn't worth the risk that someone would leak it to the news. Dropping the case for any reason would lead to speculation that would reflect very poorly on both Sunset Curve and Phantom Records, especially after the statement we released."

"Yeah, we might as well just announce we have no integrity or backbone," Alex mutters, massaging his temples. Beside him, Willie lays a comforting hand on Alex's shoulder.

Reggie watches Alex's expression soften when he looks at Willie and cannot for the life of him understand why they're not dating already. Reggie's not sure what romantic love looks like—his parents aren't exactly a shining example of marital bliss—but he thinks it might look like Alex and Willie.

Reggie snaps back to attention at the sound of Luke's agitated voice.

"We have time-stamped messages and photos of us writing the songs he stole," Luke snaps. "That's months of work down the drain, just so you know! We have evidence to prove that we contributed 99% of those songs and you were gonna let him have them?" He stares at their CEO, looking betrayed. "We at least deserve an apology!"

The CEO sighs and crosses her legs, the picture of sophistication. Reggie aspires to her level of poise and confidence. Maybe he should start wearing blazers. "They offered the deal because they knew they wouldn't win. But they clearly have enough money to discourage reporters from writing negatively about them and to support Bobby through any negative publicity that slips through. We have decided to go ahead with the lawsuit but you realize we can't sue anyone into apologizing? There might even be backlash directed at Sunset Curve. Bobby's already quite popular, you know."

"We can handle backlash," Alex replies confidently, glancing at Willie who smiles supportively. "We're not afraid to fight haters online. But it's not fair for Bobby to profit off the songs we wrote without even mentioning us. Right, guys?"

"Bro, I am a social media  _ master _ ," Reggie proclaims smugly, reclining back in his seat. "The haters won't know what hit 'em. It is a deadly katana and I am its fearless samurai." He frowns at Alex's face. "What?"

Luke just grunts.

* * *

**SUNSET CURVE WINS LAWSUIT AGAINST BOBBY WILSON AND EXTENDS HIATUS**

_ SEPTEMBER 6, 2020 _

The verdict is in: Bobby Wilson is guilty.

In August, the band Sunset Curve, signed to Phantom Records, filed a lawsuit against former member Bobby Wilson, now an artist under Hollywood Ghost Records. For a month, fans and music critics alike waited with bated breath to find out if Bobby's debut EP,  _ My Name Is Bobby _ , was indeed stolen from Sunset Curve. Sunset Curve emerged as the victor. Hollywood Ghost Records must pay reparations to Phantom Records and retract Bobby's mini-album.

Despite the win, it seems the band has not recovered from the betrayal of their former member. Phantom Records released the following statement, extending the band's hiatus:

> This is Phantom Records speaking on behalf of Sunset Curve. We regret to announce that the band will be taking some time to recuperate from the events of the past few months and work on new music, though they will continue to be active on YouTube and other social media platforms. Thank you for all your support and understanding.

Hollywood Ghost Records has yet to release an official statement.

**Author's Note:**

> timidly poofing into the jatp fandom...
> 
> hello! i watched the entirety of season 1 in one sitting. four days later, i've already rewatched it twice (with some skippage to the best parts, naturally). i am what you might call "obsessed." this show is way too rewatchable and the music is *chef's kiss*. i've read almost every single jatp fic on here (true dedication). i've read many an author's note outing themselves as a grown ass adult in love with this kids show. well, add me to that proud number.
> 
> even though we pretty much only got backstory for julie and luke (who are ADORABLE, separately and together), i'm already in love with all the characters. alex and willie?? yesssss! my sweet rock boy with a country soul reggie? SLAY MEEE.
> 
> what am i trying to say? uh i haven't been this inspired to write something in a looooong time so i thought i should grab hold and not let go. i've never tried a youtuber/social media au before because i honestly don't use social media much and i only watch youtube for specific content aka not the trending meme stuff lol so be lenient with me? i just thought it would be fun to try this format and to play around with the idea of julie and the boys thriving in the capabilities of this day and age (also because i'm always too scared to write canonverse fics, au is where it's at).
> 
> oh right, i also aged them up a bit...because. i don't really know how to write teen shenanigans anymore haha! hope you don't mind.
> 
> honestly not exactly sure where this story is going. i have a loose plot, but i'm pretty much making it up as we go. still, hope you enjoy! let me know if any of the images display weirdly for you.


End file.
